A man who was caught drink-driving in Keady for the sixth time has been jailed for 10 months.
Giedrius Rackauskas (50), of Fairgreen Park, Keady was also disqualified from driving for seven years at a hearing before Armagh Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Newry Courthouse, on Tuesday.
He was charged with using a vehicle without insurance, driving whilst disqualified, driving whilst unfit through drink or drugs and failing to provide a specimen of breath.
At the outset of the hearing, it was noted that a pre-sentence report was unavailable as the defendant had not attended his probation appearances.
District Judge Anne Marshall noted he had a “dreadful, dreadful record”, adding that he was in breach of a suspended sentence for doing the same thing before.
Prosecution outlined that in the afternoon of March 15 this year, police on patrol in Keady observed a vehicle exiting a car park at a supermarket.
Checks on police systems showed that the male linked to the vehicle was a disqualified driver, as he had been banned from driving for five years on August 8, 2023.
The vehicle was stopped and the driver’s identity was confirmed as the defendant.
When he was asked to exit the vehicle, he was stumbling and police suspected that he had been drinking alcohol.
When asked to complete a preliminary breath test, he refused and was subsequently arrested.
The lower reading taken later was 90 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit in Northern Ireland is 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.
A defence lawyer, speaking on the defendant’s behalf, conceded: “He did something that is a blight on society and this court takes a very dim view of it, quite properly, and a lesson has to be learned and if it’s not ultimately learned a price has to be paid.”
He asked the District Judge to keep the ‘price’ paid to a minimum.
District Judge Anne Marshall stated that “absolutely there’s a price to be paid”, noting this was the defendant’s fourth driving whilst disqualified and his sixth drink-driving case.
She imposed a sentence of five months on the charges before the court, which when added to the outstanding suspended sentence, resulted in a total of 10 months in custody.
District Judge Marshall also banned the defendant from driving for seven years and fixed bail for appeal at a sum of £500.
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